• Home
  • Mail
  • News
  • Finance
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Search
  • Mobile
  • More
Yahoo
    • Skip to Navigation
    • Skip to Main Content
    • Skip to Related Content
    • Mail
    Lifestyle Home
    Follow Us
    • Style
    • Beauty
    • Wellness
    • Shopping
    • MAKERS
    • Holiday Guide for Guys
    • Pets
    • Video
    • Horoscopes
    • Pop Culture

    Natto: How Bad Is It, Really?

    Julia Bainbridge
    Food Editor
    Yahoo Food•February 26, 2014
    Reblog
    Share
    Tweet
    Share

    This week, we’re taking a look at those international foods popularly thought of as “gross” and testing that theory. (Yay for us.) How bad are they…really?

    Photo credit: Getty / Keith Beaty, Toronto Star

    Like Marmite for the Brits, natto is a polarizing dish in Japan. The Japanese either love or hate these fetid fermented soybeans, but all of them are shocked when they see foreigners eating the stringy stuff. 

    "It just tastes like home to me," says Maki Uchida, who grew up in Tokyo and now lives in Baltimore, Maryland. She keeps a steady stock of natto on hand and eats it over white rice for dinner, unlike some Japanese people who eat it the same way for breakfast. 

    "People in the countryside, who still eat the traditional breakfast with rice and miso soup, might have natto in the morning, but a lot of city people don’t do that anymore,” says Uchida. For dinner, her family would have miso soup, a main dish comprised of some kind of meat or fish, and white rice with four or five small portions of side dishes that act as rice seasonings. Natto is one of those.

    "At school, we were taught to eat in a circle around the plate. So you take bits of things and kind of mix everything in your mouth the way you like it. It’s a taught behavior, and it’s all based around rice."

    Bainbridge likes natto for its funk and its saltiness. “Japanese people are addicted to soy sauce and the acid in it,” she says. “Natto helps fuel that addiction.”

    So, were we to be converts? We tested natto over warm white rice and generally found it to be… not painful. 

    The main issue was with the scent: ”Tough bouquet. I can see how this would be an early-morning protein hit, but it’s the lingering aftertaste I’m not into. Barnyardy and it just. Keeps. Coming.”

    And the phlegmy texture: “It has a certain not-food quality to it, because of how stringy the threads are.”

    One of us thought the flavor was nice: “There’s a bit of a bitter undertone, but I kind of like it. It’s a good complement to the rice.” Another thought it was at the very least, inoffensive: “The flavor doesn’t peak in the salty, umami or sweet category. It’s mostly bouquet, then it dissipates into that barnyardiness."

    And to sum it all up: "Smells like sweaty socks left on the bathroom floor after kickboxing. Looks like brown jelly beans in caramel, only I mean that in the grossest way possible. That stringy, stickiness also creates a pretty gross texture in your mouth. The actual taste has kind of a funky, rounded saltiness that I rather like." Basically, "I probably wouldn’t order it if I saw it on a restaurant menu, but I don’t think it’s gross." 

    On the Gross Scale, we collectively gave natto a 2.25. So: kinda gross, but not nearly as gross as Marmite. 

    Yahoo Food is a new site for people who love to eat. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest.

    Reblog
    Share
    Tweet
    Share

    What to Read Next

    • Two Women Landed in the ER After Using a Vacuum to End Their Periods, According to a Nurse's Scary Viral Tweet

      Meredith Videos
    • Amazon delivery driver goes viral for unbelievable reaction to customer's gift: 'Get out of here!'

      In The Know
    • Caitlyn Jenner Claims Kourtney Kardashian Believed O.J. Simpson's Not Guilty Verdict Right After the Trial

      Cosmopolitan
    • What Really Happened During Princess Anne's Encounter with Donald Trump

      Harper's Bazaar
    • 'Dancing With the Stars' not returning in spring 2020 amid backlash and controversy

      Cosmopolitan Videos
    • Gigi Hadid Goes Topless and Wears a Wig for Dramatic Chanel Photoshoot

      Harper's Bazaar
    • If Matt Bevin Had Not Lost the Election, He Would Have Won It

      Esquire
    • Fired Starbucks manager mulls lawsuit amid cup scandal: 'They were supposed to be there for me'

      In The Know
    • Gym buffs and athletes will love the Theragun massager for treating sore muscles

      In The Know
    • The Man Who Killed Trayvon Martin Is Suing His Mother For $100 Million

      Refinery29
    • Bella Hadid Takes the Thong Bikini to Extremes

      Vogue
    • Martha Stewart Got a Shaggy New Haircut That's Sending the Internet Into a Frenzy

      Allure
    • Scientists say 'Grey’s Anatomy' episode increased sexual assault awareness

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • Michael Jordan’s Banned Nike Sneaker Might Have a Second Act

      Footwear News
    • All of Kate Middleton's December Outfits Revolve Around This Color Palette

      Who What Wear
    • Slave plantations will no longer be glorified as 'romantic places to marry' on The Knot, Pinterest

      Yahoo Lifestyle

    Explainer: How impeachment works and why Trump is unlikely to be removed

    Ask: "The day Richard Nixon failed to answer that subpoena is the day he was subject to impeachment because he took the power from Congress over the impeachment process away from Congress, and he became the judge and jury," Graham said two decades ago.

    Join the Conversation
    1 / 5

    5.6k

    • 'Vanderpump Rules' Scheana Shay Just Revealed She's No Longer Single On Instagram

      Women's Health
    • Kendall Jenner Wore a Very Elle Woods Slip Dress Out With Bella Hadid and Joan Smalls in Miami

      Elle
    • Melania Trump's ‘Ridiculous’ Coat Has People Talking

      Glamour
    • This 20-piece 'kitchen in a box' has everything but the kitchen sink—and it's $60 off today only

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • Chipotle Has On-Call Nurses Who Check That Employees Who Call In Sick Are Not Just Hungover

      Delish
    • This influencer wants you to know what her body really looks like

      Cosmo
    • Elsa Hosk Shuts Down the Red Carpet With a Set of Supermodel Abs

      Vogue
    • These top-rated sheets are insanely soft -- and under $30

      In The Know
    • Hilary Duff Quit Cardio For Bodybuilding Workouts And She's 'Never Felt So Lean'

      Prevention
    • Here's Kendall & Bella Lounging in Bikinis During the Middle of the Work Week

      Elle
    • 'Today' Show Star Al Roker Got Into a Twitter Fight With the Rockefeller Christmas Tree

      Good Housekeeping
    • The Senate Just Confirmed a Trump Judge With No Real Trial or Litigation Experience

      Esquire
    • Watch Princess Anne Literally SHRUG at the Queen After Being Scolded for Not Greeting Donald Trump

      Cosmopolitan
    • These Cockroach Killers Are the Fastest Way to Get Rid of an Infestation

      Prevention
    • Newlyweds killed in tragic helicopter crash after their wedding

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • Pantone’s Color of the Year 2020 Is “Classic Blue”

      Teen Vogue